Compassionate Servant - Mark Chapter 3
This post is part of an 20-day series of the book of Mark. Mark’s gospel often refers to Jesus as Master & Servant and reveals Jesus’s actions and how he meets our spiritual and physical needs. Jesus is revealed as shining the light on the heart of God, demonstrating many promises of the Old Testament in his actions.
Each of Jesus’s actions and teachings embody the character of God, as already revealed in the Old Testament. As Hebrews 1:3 says, ‘The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.’ Each session opens with a biblical promise, reading the passage, and then some observation and interpretation questions follow. The sessions end with personal application questions. After looking at four chapters, there is than a look at passages from the Old Testament which address similar topics and the accompanying questions consider how Jesus reveals the Father. Please feel free to share an application response or comment on the study itself in the section below.
Day 3 – Chapter 3
Promise: Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. -Isaiah 49:13
The book of Mark highlights the compassion that God has on his people. The New Testament doesn’t tell us how many of those who are healed or freed of demons or who have heard his teachings actually being to follow him regularly. We know only of the 12 who stay with him. Yet, we have this picture of Jesus who heals many, despite their choice to follow or not. What does this say of Jesus’s character as shown in Mark?
Read Chapter 3.
This is the second time that Jesus has challenged the traditions of the Sabbath. What do you think he is saying of the Sabbath? Of traditions?
How did Jesus deal with the synagogue audience compared to the man with a withered arm?
Reread verse 6. Consider what Jesus has done to incite this plot and list them here. How does this indicate the Pharisees feel about Jesus?
Why do the crowds come to Jesus? In requesting a boat be prepared for him, what is it that he likely wants to do with the crowd that follows?
Jesus appoints the 12 disciples in this chapter. What have they done to deserve this calling?
What three things does he appoint the 12 do?
There were again murmurings about Jesus. This time he called the men to him to address them specifically. How does this action influence the parable then told?
How does Jesus’s natural family treat him in verses 21, 31-32? What can we learn from his response to their request to see him? How does he describe his family?
Application: The Pharisees had difficulty responding to the priority of compassion compared to tradition. In today’s busy world, we too have ideas of what we have to do or ought to do. How well do you prioritize those items in the face of Jesus’s priority of compassion?
